Deputy Water Services Director

City of Goodyear•Goodyear, AZ

About The Position

Provides operational and visionary leadership in the management of major functional areas of the Water Services Department. Manages highly complex and multi-disciplinary activities, personnel, budget, and resources in areas such as; Water and Wastewater Operations, Asset Reliability, Stormwater Management, and Equipment Maintenance. Exercises considerable independence in working with executives and managers of other City departments and agencies on problems relating to Water Services activities. Work involves representing all major program areas of the department, liaison activities, and coordination of special projects across the city, various divisions, regional and private sector activities. The Deputy Water Services Director is responsible for leading and managing all aspects of the operations of the water, wastewater, asset reliability and environmental programs divisions. The ideal candidate for the Deputy Water Services Director is a strategic, forward-thinking leader with extensive experience in water services, capital improvement program (CIP) management, water resources planning, and sustainability initiatives, including environmental compliance and stormwater programs. They bring a strong engineering foundation and possess the technical and organizational expertise needed to guide complex infrastructure projects and long-range resource strategies. Beyond their technical strengths, the ideal candidate is a culture-driven leader who fosters trust, collaboration, and accountability. They model behaviors that support a positive, inclusive, and high-performance workplace, empowering teams while championing continuous improvement and innovation. This individual excels at building strong cross-departmental relationships, engaging stakeholders, and communicating effectively at all levels. They demonstrate a leadership style grounded in our core values of integrity, empathy, initiative, innovation, adaptability, optimism and promote a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and connected to the department’s mission. Their approach encourages teamwork, professional growth, and alignment with organizational values. A master’s degree is strongly preferred, along with professional engineering experience, which enhances their ability to make informed, data-driven decisions that advance the department’s operational excellence, resilience, and long-term sustainability. At the City of Goodyear, you will be a part of an organization that values its employees as its greatest asset. You will become part of a dedicated team of IT professionals that will be challenged to learn and grow in an environment that values employee development and career-building. You will thrive in a culture of innovation. We believe that successful employees are those that possess six core values: Integrity - Initiative - Empathy - Optimism - Innovation - Adaptability

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in public administration, business, engineering, water resources, or a related field.
Seven years of responsible experience in planning, organizing and directing a public works or related operation, including four years in an administrative and supervisory capacity.
Valid Driver’s License
Any licenses or certifications in area of responsibility
Work requires the ability to read various correspondence, technical reports and data, memorandums, and letters, policies, laws, guidelines and procedures at a college level.
Evaluate technical information and statutes and arrive at valid recommendations based on the data.
Comprehend and make inferences from materials written in the English language.
Work requires the ability to perform complex math calculations.
Work requires the ability to write complex correspondence, reports, memorandums, and letters, ordinances, policies; and general plan goals and objectives.
Complex - Work requires managing and monitoring work performance of a division including evaluating program/work objectives and effectiveness, establishing broad organizational goals and realigning work and staffing assignments for the department.
Significant - Has responsibility for final approval of at least one division budget and presents the budget(s) to Senior Management.
Is authorized to approve division budgeted expenditures for both staff and resources up to the amount that requires the approval of Senior Management and resources up to the amount that requires the approval of Senior Management.
Significant - The employee normally performs the duty assignments within broad parameters defined by general organizational requirements and accepted practices. End results determine effectiveness of job performance. This position independently decides how objectives are achieved and what resources are needed. Typical positions in this category are upper management to executive level jobs.
Work requires advanced skills and knowledge in approaches and systems, which affect the design and implementation of major programs, solutions for highly complex issues, and/or processes organization-wide. Independent judgment and decision-making abilities are necessary to apply technical skills effectively.
High - Interactions at this level typically result in recommendations regarding policy development, changes in policy, and implementation of policies. Interactions at this level are typically concerned with providing communications at higher levels of organizational operations and may utilize activities such as evaluating customer satisfaction, developing cooperative associations, and allocating resources to improve work operations, work quality, overall achievement of organizational goals and objectives, and customer satisfaction.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree is preferred.
Other combinations of experience and education that meet the minimum requirements may be substituted.

Responsibilities

Directs departmental divisions by providing innovative, visionary, and strategic oversight of assigned areas.
Develops, implements, monitors, and improves upon policies, procedures, and processes.
Performs work assignments that are broad in scope and require the use of independent judgment and initiative in making leadership, technical and managerial decisions of considerable difficulty.
Provides effective communicative leadership throughout all levels of the organization and acts on the Water Services Director's behalf by assignment or delegation in director's absence.
Establishes and maintains proactive and appropriate work environment, tone, and forward-thinking culture for all aspects of the organization.
Seeks to instill and maintain a supportive, collaborative and employee-valued workforce.
Directs employees involved in assigned areas, provides for administrative, technical, mechanical and physical support for divisional and departmental safety programs and operations.
Evaluates program objectives and effectiveness.
Establishes broad organizational goals, and realigns organization and staffing as needed to optimize operations.
Advises city leadership on issues related to Water Services' activities.
Provides oversight and review of plans for present and future programs, compliance with regulatory and statutory responsibilities and directives, technical reports, budget estimates and contracts, and interprets and explains complex financial and administrative reports.
Oversees efforts to ensure fiscally prudent practices, including monitoring of expenditures and revenues, sound financial forecasts, and timely processing of transactions.
Directs and participates in management studies and analyzes programs and problems.
Negotiates contract terms and enforces warranty and contract agreements.
Interacts with other City departments and represents the City when dealing with federal, state, county, and local agencies and media regarding Water Services Department operations and issues.
Serves on and leads various interdepartmental and multi-jurisdictional associations, project groups, special projects, and task forces.
Exemplifies diplomacy and ability to quickly work through issues when faced with controversial, difficult, or complex situations.